COLUMBUS, Ohio th C. Michael Rutherford, a financial strategist with more than 30 years experience in health care, has been named chief financial officer at The Ohio State University Medical Center. He will be responsible for the fiscal management of the Medical Center's clinical operations and business enterprises.

(Media-Newswire.com) - COLUMBUS, Ohio – C. Michael Rutherford, a financial strategist with more than 30 years experience in health care, has been named chief financial officer at The Ohio State University Medical Center. He will be responsible for the fiscal management of the Medical Center’s clinical operations and business enterprises.

Rutherford comes to Ohio State from Summa Health System in Akron. At Summa, a health care network with more than 2,000 licensed beds, he has served for the past 10 years as system vice president and chief financial officer.

At Ohio State he also will serve as senior associate vice president of health sciences. He will start in his new position on January 4.

Rutherford is widely respected around the country for his financial management expertise and will be an asset to Ohio State, according to Dr. Steven G. Gabbe, CEO of OSU Medical Center.

“A search committee spent months looking at several of the country’s top financial strategists and the members were very excited after talking to Michael,” said Gabbe. “He has very impressive experience and is certainly a rising star in his field.”

Peter Geier, CEO of The Ohio State University Health System, said Rutherford is an innovative and skilled leader who can help the organization meet its financial and strategic targets under very challenging conditions. “Michael has been an accomplished and solid performer at every stop in his career and we are extremely happy to have been able to attract someone of his caliber to the University,” said Geier.

Geier says the financial integrity of the Medical Center in coming years is vital to its core missions and to the thousands of patients treated each day in Ohio State health care facilities. “Michael will be a valued resource and key to our continued success,” he added.

Rutherford also worked for nine years in financial and executive leadership positions within the Ohio-based Sisters of Charity, a Catholic health system, including positions as CFO and CEO of the Cleveland market and senior vice president/chief financial officer of Mercy Medical Center in Canton.

He has also held financial management positions at Sharon Regional Health System in Pennsylvania, Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown and Humana Inc. in Louisville, Ky.

He holds both a master’s and bachelor’s ( cum laude ) degree in business administration from West Virginia University.

The Ohio State University’s academic medical center includes the College of Medicine, OSU Physicians and the OSU Health System, comprising University Hospital, James Cancer Hospital, University Hospital East, OSU Harding, Ross Heart Hospital and a network of community care sites.

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